The Cautionary Tale: Martin Lawrence

Inside The Actors Studio may have jumped the shark with J. Lo, but don't tell that to Martin Lawrence. Hours before he's scheduled to meet James Lipton, the comic-turned-actor is humble. "To me, it's a big thing," he says.

However, Lawrence is reflective for another reason-it's been two days since the death of his idol Richard Pryor. Like Pryor, Lawrence made his name doing stand-up before breaking into acting. With the success of his Martin sitcom and You So Crazy tour, he was cast in Bad Boys (1995). "It was a lot of fun, a lot of pussy," he recalls, smiling.

But juggling careers produced constant stress. In May 1996, one month after the release of A Thin Line Between Love and Hate, Lawrence famously waved a gun in an L.A. intersection; he was later diagnosed with exhaustion. More tabloid fodder followed, including sexual harassment charges from a Martin co-star and arrests for gun possession and assault. Then, in August 1999, he fell into a three-day coma after trying to lose weight by jogging in winter clothes in triple-digit heat. He emerged with a new philosophy: "None of this is worth losing your health," he says.

But where Pryor turned his life woes into material, Lawrence has kept it light with family films, all profitable enough to keep studios wanting more. This year, Lawrence takes on a Big Momma's House sequel and the animated Open Season. The profane workaholic is now a 40-year-old family man. "I am at peace with where I am and what I have accomplished," he says. "My Oscar is my payday." Would Mr. Lipton approve?

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